When John Tavares missed two out of three games with an illness and then an unspecified injury, it forced Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe to try some new looks.
So when he made his return to start the team's recent four-game road trip that began in St. Louis on Feb. 19, Tavares found himself moved to the team's third line, centring a trio of younger players in Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann. Tavares also saw his assignment on the top power-play unit taken away by winger Tyler Bertuzzi.
So far, it's worked out well for Keefe and the Maple Leafs, who are in the midst of their longest winning streak in over 20 years at seven games. That's left Tavares to just keep his focus on what he can do.
"You just want to do what you can to help the team and obviously what he felt was necessary to do," Tavares said of Keefe's decision. "You just control what you control and just be ready to play every time is called to go over the boards."
Making that call to your team captain can be tough. Doing it with a player earning $11 million per season and having an additional year committed beyond this season could also be tough. But Keefe lauded Tavares' professionalism when he explained his rationale for the move.
"It was more just talking him through it and explaining the situation and why I thought the timing was right for that both in terms of how it affects the team and how it impacts the others that have been playing well and have built some real positive momentum over the last little bit," Keefe said.
Max Domi saw the promotion at even strength, moving up into Tavares' previous spot on the second line between Tyler Bertuzzi and William Nylander. Domi scored a pair of even-strength goals against the Vegas Golden Knights and Bertuzzi has found his scoring touch again with a hat trick in the club's most recent game, a 4-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche.
But it hasn't been perfect despite the scoring.
"For the most part, both lines have been getting out-chanced when they are out there and that’s something that we’ve got to really manage but they’ve been doing enough to make sure the goals are on the right side of it, at least."
That suggests that the experiment won't last for a long time if the winning streak stops or if Domi struggles in the second-line center spot. But for now. The Leafs will continue the experiment
"We’ve got something special so I’m just trying to do what I can to contribute toward that
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